A Report of Tiberium
by Z98
Summary: A report on Tiberium, its characteristics, and its mutations.


A Report of Tiberium  
  
If any of you hate dry science stuff, leave. If not, good luck understanding this as it gets extremely complicated at parts and requires some knowledge of genetics. Any error is because my own actual knowledge of genetics and biology is limited. However, if you can understand this, congratulations.  
  
Doctor Caroline Ross, PhD. Director of Nod Tiberium Technology Laboratory  
  
Report on Tiberium for the International Science Symposium of 2045  
  
Tiberium Plants  
  
Tiberium is perhaps the most complex organism we humans have encountered. It adapts rapidly, can change entire worlds, and, if used properly, can save worlds as well. Tiberium itself is actually a planet. It was brought to our planet by an alien asteroid that landed by the Tiber River in the 1980s. The Tiberium plant spread throughout the entire planet and started mutating our world. There have been several different types of Tiberium that have been discovered and documented. Here are the reports of the known Tiberium planets.  
  
Green Tiberium  
  
Green Tiberium can be found nearly everywhere. It is perhaps the simplest of all Tiberium. However, it itself is already incredibly complex. The green crystals that are grown from the plant are actually its waste products. Inside the plant is what we believe to be a stomach of sorts. Tiberium draws minerals and nutrients from the ground and sends it into the stomach. In the stomach, the minerals are forced together through some sort of fusion process that generates a unique wavelength of radiation. Also, we have detected what we think is a nuclear fission process going on inside the plant. This reaction is what we believe supplies the energy to the plant. We believe that the fusion of the minerals into crystals provide the fuel to the fission process. Like other Tiberium plants, Green Tiberium spreads through spores and mutual growth. In mutual growth, roots from one Tiberium plant attach to others and starts growing sprouts. These sprouts then grow into new Tiberium plants. This is how large clusters of Tiberium form. The other method of spreading is releasing spores. Tiberium spores can spread great distances. As long as they land on suitable terrain, they will burrow underground and then grow into Tiberium plants.  
  
Blue Tiberium  
  
Blue Tiberium is different in many ways to Green Tiberium. Its genetic code is more complex than Green Tiberium, the reaction we detect in its stomach is more like nuclear fusion, and the crystals created are far more volatile. The process in which the Blue Tiberium plant compresses the minerals and creates the crystals is far more intense than Green Tiberium. More minerals are compressed into the crystals, making it partially unstable. We believe that Blue Tiberium is a more evolved form of Green Tiberium, since many Tiberian creatures eat the plant. The more volatile nature of the crystals provide a more effective defensive mechanism than the sharp crystals of Green Tiberium.  
  
Red Tiberium  
  
Red Tiberium is a very recent discovery. The first known samples were discovered at the NTTL Tiberium growing facilities. Red Tiberium is far more volatile than Blue Tiberium. The structure of the plant is also harder. The Tiberium crystals are firmly attached to the plant, thus making it extremely difficult to remove the crystal and not having it explode. The reaction we found in its stomach is something similar to a fission-fusion-fission reaction. The minerals are first broken up, then reformed with new structural patterns, broken down again, and finally reformed into the red crystals. The amount of minerals in Red Tiberium is truly astounding. It has five times as many minerals as Blue Tiberium. Right now, Red Tiberium has not been found in the wild, and thanks to new control methods the Brotherhood of Nod has instituted, we believe that we will never see Red Tiberium in the wild. Red Tiberium seems to be an even further evolutionary step of Tiberium.  
  
Tiberium Algae  
  
Tiberium Algae has formed all across the oceans. They currently make water travel impossible. The algae actually collect large amounts of pollution and other such wastes from the ocean and uses it as an energy source. However, the algae itself is extremely radioactive and the waste it produces, a sort of liquid, does even more damage. Any water contaminated by the algae is undrinkable. The algae has similar properties to many Earth algae that are all but extinct. GDI is currently harvesting the algae and using it as bio-fuel. Nod has developed purifiers that cleans out the liquid waste. It uses a certain enzymes and chemicals that break down the waste into harmless particles.  
  
Tiberium Trees/Bushes  
  
There are many sorts of Tiberium Trees. Most other Tiberium plant life can actually be considered Tiberium Trees. One noteworthy one is the large Tiberium Crystal Tree. It looks like a larger version of a Blue Tiberium plant. This plant also forms crystals. However, the crystals it forms are extremely volatile and too dangerous to attempt to harvest. It has many similar properties with the smaller Tiberium Plants. The Tiberium Trees and Bushes are basically Tiberium transformed flora and act more as a food source for many other creatures.  
  
Tiberium Creatures  
  
Tiberium has also created many new creatures on our plant. Many of the terrestrial animals have become extinct because they could not adapt to the new Tiberian environment. Many others have been forced to evolve at amazing rates. The old Laws of Evolution have been discarded and new ones have been put in place. Other new life forms have simply come into existence, some created by Nod, some we have no idea whatsoever.  
  
Tiberium Waste Vines  
  
Tiberium Waste Veins are believed to be the result of two things; evolution of Tiberium in another direction, and mutation of several terrestrial plants. The Tiberium Waste Vine is basically a large living entity like the Venus flytrap. It has many tentacles that overlap each other and form what looks like a carpet of vines on the ground. The orange color is believed to be caused by the high amounts of Tiberium waste contained within the creature. Nod has found a way to break down the veins and refine the waste for biological weapons. However, nowadays, the waste material is used for experimentation only. The vines of the creature is sensitive to heavy objects. Nothing heavier than a Wolverine or an Attack Buggy can pass through unharmed, except for the Nod Tiberium Waste Harvester. Large vehicles are attacked by the vines as it tries to rip the vehicle apart. Pavement stops the growth of a vine field. The vines seem to need to attach themselves into the ground, but since the pavement prevents this, they cannot spread any further. Wall have also been effective in blocking the spread of the Vine creature. Any structure in the path of the vines will be attacked and destroyed. The vines latch onto the structure and apply a great deal of pressure to the building. It then slowly tears it apart at any cracks that may form. At the center of every vine patch is a mouth. The mouth is used to actually eat anything that it might capture. Wreckage of equipment and even wild animals have been seen dragged into the mouth. Under the mouth is a complex stomach that can digest nearly any known metal, as the cameras GDI sent into the creature were also digested. The Tiberium Waste Vine creature seems to draw its energy from actual digesting of animals and materials, not from any sort of reaction, as now are found. Dissection of dead specimens show that under the stomach is a complex nervous system. We believe that to be the actual brain. The brain is protected by a soft shell. Bullet weapons are the most effective against these creatures, as high explosives and armor piercing rounds do not seem to greatly affect the mouth. However, care must be taken when attempting to destroy these creatures, as it will expel Tiberium waste from its stomach as a defensive mechanism. We believe that the Tiberium Waste Vine is another evolutionary phase of Tiberium. We only know of one way that the Tiberium Waste Vine reproduces. When a field grows to a certain size, it will start bunching up a large amount of vines. After possibly three weeks, a new mouth will be formed from the bunch. As too how the Waste Vines have been able to spread out so much across the world, we are not sure.  
  
Tiberium Fiends  
  
Tiberium Fiends are what we believe to be a forced evolution. Their shape represents dogs, but their size is that of a horse. The Tiberium Fiends are complex creatures, and can be considered predators of the Tiberian environment. They eat the Tiberium plant as well as Tiberium Visceroids. The Tiberium Fiends have a total of three lungs. Two of the lungs process the Tiberium air for Tiberium gas and the third processes the air for oxygen. The Tiberium Fiend can survive with extremely low levels of oxygen, and need the Tiberium gas more. The heart of the Fiend has a total of five chambers. We believe it is because of the amount of Tiberium spores inside the bloodstream of a Tiberium creature. It requires a large amount of power to pump its blood with the many elements in it. The Tiberium grown on its back are from spores attaching themselves when the Fiend was still young. The plant draws minerals and nutrients in when the Fiend is burrowed. The crystals provide camouflage when in a Tiberium field and are what the Fiend launches when it attacks. The Fiend has the ability to cause the crystals to fragment upon release of a certain enzyme which we at the NTTL are currently trying to develop. It then stores the fragments inside a sort of sack and then launches them using a specialized muscle at its targets. Tiberium Fiends mate four times every quarter of a year. They actually hatch from eggs. The Fiend eggs are the size of ostrich eggs.  
  
Tiberium Visceroid  
  
The Tiberium Visceroids seem to be one of the baser creatures of the Tiberium world. It is very similar to a single cell organism, but is far more complicated. The Tiberium Visceroids are actually the results of tissue being mutated and killed by Tiberium. Many times, Visceroids will emerge from the carcass of dead animals. The Visceroids seem to survive on eating pieces of Tiberium Bushes. They are also food for Tiberium Fiends. The most interesting aspect of the Visceroid is that even though it is a multi-cellular organism, it can still divide to recreate. Tiberium Visceroids were already around during the First Tiberium War. However, the specimens back then were weak and easily killed. The new ones have evolved since. Even during its infant stage, the Tiberium Visceroid is extremely robust. It will divide once before starting to try to merge with other Visceroids. Three Visceroids joined together will create an adult. The adults are extremely troublesome as they can destroy a village by themselves. They use pseudo arms to attack. They area also tougher to kill. After a while, the adults will also divide into six other baby Visceroids.  
  
Tiberium Floater  
  
The Tiberium Floater is believed to be the forced evolution of a jellyfish. They are able to move on land and also have the ability to float. This is explained by them forcing air out from under them. Their primary defensive measure is a powerful electrical blast. However, they must be very close to the target to use it. Its electrical charge comes from it collecting ions from the atmosphere. Floaters have been seen struck by lightning and having no serious affect. Their tentacles aren't effective in killing. They are mainly used to hold the prey before the electric charge us used to kill it. The Floaters are powerful predators and will eat Visceroids and Fiends. They are carnivores and do not eat the Tiberium plants. Their stomach is quite simple. It breaks down food and supplies the rest of the body with energy. Floaters aren't very difficult to kill. The attacking units just have to keep their distance. Their nervous system is even more complex than that of a Fiend, but the rest of its body seems extremely primitive.  
  
Tiberium Mutants  
  
The first Tiberium Mutants were created by Nod during their medical experiments with Tiberium. The results were not what Nod wanted so they left the Mutants out to die. Later, when Tiberium was starting to cover the planet, more people started exhibiting mutations. GDI took a very long time to even acknowledge that there were mutants, and was slow in trying to help them. The Mutant people formed their own faction called the Forgotten. The mutant body isn't all that different from humans. They require the same things we do, except they are also dependent on Tiberium. It seems that the radiation of Tiberium plays only a part in the actual mutation of humans and animals. In the field, humans may breath in Tiberium spores. That added with the radiation can start mutating the human if left untreated. The Tiberium actually starts growing inside the mutant, though it never forms crystals or becomes very big. However, the radiation it emits causes the mutant skin to shine. The mutant body is actually a bit stronger than that of an average human because of the rigors it went through mutating. The end result is a stronger body, but chances are you'll be dead before too long anyway. The human body cannot tolerate Tiberium for too long. Some mutants are able to live longer because their body has adapted more to the Tiberium. However, Tiberium will kill them sooner or later. There are records of mutant children, but they do not survive for very long. A few live to adulthood, and even fewer live for too long after that. Currently, there are almost no mutants left, as the vaccine developed by the NTTL has rid the mutants of their Tiberium mutations.  
  
Genetics of Tiberium Plants  
  
The Green Tiberium plant has three DNA bases. We've classified them as F, T, and I. They are completely different from any on Earth and it seems there are no rules on which can bond with which. The DNA strand of a Tiberium plant has six strands twisted together. The bases are also interconnected. It is extremely difficult to separate the strands and even more difficult to separate the bases. Study of the Tiberium genome has shown us that Tiberium can change its genetic information within an extremely short amount of time. That accounts for why it has evolved so quickly. The Blue Tiberium plant has five DNA bases, but only has three strands that are connected. It is a bit more organized. We have classified the different bases of Blue Tiberium as O, X, R, Y, and E. E and X will bond with any other base, while O and R will only bond with X. The Red Tiberium plant has eight bases. They are classified as G, K, Z, M, W, Q, S, and L. The DNA strand of the Red Tiberium plant has ten strands all packed closely together. The base pairs are GK, ZM, WQ, and SL. We are currently trying to map the genome of the Tiberium plant, but that is proving to be extremely difficult since Tiberium changes so quickly and its DNA sequence also is inconsistent. Most of the other Tiberium plants are nowhere near as complex as the three stated above.  
  
Genetics of Tiberium Creatures  
  
The Tiberium Visceroid is perhaps the simplest Tiberium creature. Its DNA has three bases. They are C, B, and N. C and B will not bond with each other. The Tiberium Visceroids reproduction methods make exact copies of themselves and completely new genetic lines. The Tiberium Fiend is a five base creature. They are B, E, R, O, and P. B and E will only bond with each other while R and O will only bond with P. The Tiberium Floater is perhaps the most confusing. We believe that it is still evolving rapidly which would explain the discrepancies in its DNA. The most bases we have found in ten, while the least we've found is 5. The ones we've found in every Floater we've examined are X, E, C, D, and U. The mutants only have four bases, like unmutated humans. However, the bases have been slightly altered to be A, T, O, and E. A and O will bond and T and E will bond.  
  
Well, if you made it through and understood some of the genetics stuff, good job. If you didn't, well, it really isn't my problem. Well, please remember to review! Constructive criticism. I don't need any of you telling me it was too complicated since I already know that.  
  
Z98 


End file.
